Tampering with drugs has become a major problem for the drug industry. Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, 1982 seven deaths were reported in the suburbs of Chicago when Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules were laced with potassium cyanide. This tragedy forced the manufacturer, NcNeil Consumer Products Co., to recall 31 million bottles of over-the-counter pain relievers and the company estimated the total cost resulting from this crisis to have been $100 million.
Pill dispensers are presently manufactured that are designed to dispense pills one at a time through a dispensing hole which is located in a cover member. The cover is only permitted to rotate in one direction over a base member which houses the pills. The base houses each pill in a seating depression with each seating depression centered at the same distance from center point of dispenser as the dispensing hole in the cover. As the dispensing hole is rotated over a pill the pill can be dispensed from the dispenser. U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,737 fits ito this category, and to a lesser extent U.S. Pat. No. 3,355,067 claims 4 & 5. However, to be tamper-proof the one way rotation of the cover must be limited to only one pass over each pill location. If the cover is permitted free rotation in one direction without a means for locking the cover after the dispensing hole makes one pass over the pills the dispenser can be emptied and refilled over and over again and would therefore be a hazard as a possible tampered with pill dispenser.